The Bad Parts of Traveling Alone

I went for a short solo trip to Chicago and while there were many great aspects of traveling alone I did notice that there were some not so great parts. Even though I find some of these aspects bothersome I’m already excited to plan another solo trip somewhere soon.

After the trip, I have decided that traveling alone is something every individual should do at some point in their life. Even though I do believe that, I also think that traveling with someone else or a group of people is also a great experience.

Here are some of the more unpleasant parts about traveling alone.

Let’s get to it!

Alone. You are alone a lot especially if you are someone who isn’t very outgoing (me) and so you’re not going to go out and find people to hang out with. At some points it does get pretty lonely and so you might start feeling like the trip wasn’t worth it.

Nightlife. Depending on the type of person you are, you might or might not go out to bars/clubs while your on your trip. If you are a more introverted and nervous person (me again), you might not go out late at night and then you might feel like you’ve missed out on what your destination has to offer you.

Eating. You are going to eat alone, unless maybe you find someone on Tinder to eat with you (?). I find eating to be a social experience so eating alone everyday started to become a bit of a bummer. I even ended up just buying breakfast bars so I didn’t have to go out for breakfast anywhere and instead just walked around in the mornings.

Money. You are paying for everything. You think that $10 here and $13 there isn’t that bad but it starts to add up before you know it so be wise with your money and plan out a budget. (Surprisingly I spent a lot but not as much as I thought I would! Go me!!)

Experiences. You don’t get to share the moments that you had with anyone else. A fun part of traveling is reminiscing with someone about the experiences you had while traveling. If you travel alone you don’t really get to talk about the trip in that way with someone else.

Photos. Taking photos of yourself is freaking difficult. Don’t even think about trying to take a photo in front of a big monument because it will not happen. You can ask someone to take a photo of you but chances are they’ll frame it wrong (thank you lady who cut off my feet in a photo) or you can set up a self timer but chances are there is never anything to fucking put your phone on.

These are just a few of the things I noticed that started to get to me while doing a bit of solo traveling. It isn’t everything but hey you know how wordy I get so this is enough!